Note that this online article is possible because Dr. Djukanovic published "The 9th Chess Olympic Games in Dubrovnik from 20-31 August, 1950: A study on Philatelistic Items" in the Chesstamp review, July-September, 2001, pp.92-104. He added even more material in a follow-up article: "9th Chess Olympic Games in Dubrovnik (Yugoslavia) 1950 - New Philatelistic Discoveries," ChessStamp Review, December, 2003. The articles together contain one of the finest philatelic contributions to chess on stamp collecting. This online web article represents a natural extension: providing illustrations to accompany his fine work.
Jon Edwards
Yugoslavia issued a set of 5 stamps to honor the first Chess Olympic games held after the Second World War. This was the first chess olympiad commemorated by a special stamp issue.
The stamps were in use until July 31, 1951. The pictures on the stamps measure 23:33mm. The whole stamps measure 26:36mm. For additional information about each stamp, please click on each image.
Held in Dubrovnik Yugoslavia from 20-31 August, 1950, this 9th Olympiad drew players from 16 countries (Yugoslavia, Germany, Argentina, the United States, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Chile, France, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Peru, Norway, and Greece. Each team had four players and two reserves. Yugoslavia (Svetozar Gligorich, Vasja Pirc, Dr. Petar Tifunovich, Branislav Ribar, Milan Vidmar Jr., and Stojan Puc) won the event.
The Games of the 9th Chess Olympiad in Dubrovnik
The five value set were printed in Switzerland by Impr. Courvoasier S.A. from La Chaux-de-Fonds in three-colored heliogravure on special chalky paper with fine red and blue fibers. The gum on the back is white and the box comb perforation is 12. A total of 80,000 sets exist (the 20 dinar stamp, the rarest of the five stamps, was printed in that quantity). The 20 dinar stamp therefore became the "key stamp" for the set. The 2 dinar, 5 dinar, and 10 dinar values each were printed in a quantity of 200,000. The 3 dinar stamp had a print run of 300,000. The stamps were printed in sheets of 50 (5 rows with 10 stamps in each) with white protective margins. The name of the Swiss printer is on the upper and lower margins. On the bottom margin is the code for the sheet, either a "1" or a "2".
This renowned printer is known for precise work so that, in the stamps they produce, errors are very rare. Nonetheless, I have found TWO printing errors in the 2.- dinar stamp.
The Yugoslavia Ministry of Post (nb. 16019) made the decision to print and edit the stamps on 24 June, 1950. They said that "the stamps will be on sale at all bigger post offices," but only some post offices received the stamps. In Dubrovnik, the stamps could be purchased only with hard currency and also only in limited quantity. Blocks of four for the set are consequently quite rare.
Many different FDC were prepared during the event. In conjunction with the Olympic chess games, a stamp exhibition was held in the rooms of The Young Peoples Cultural Society "Marin Drzic" with a total of 44 exhibits with a total of 93 frames. A poster advertising the stamp exhibition notes that "For each entrance ticket the visitor can buy a set of chess stamps with special postmark."
The FDCs were postmarked with either a red or black cancellation. Click on each postmark for additional information about each. Djuka has studied hundreds and hundreds of items with these special red and black postmarks. The most common number used for the hour of use is "9" for 9 am. The earliest hour he found was the number 8 while the latest is the number "19." This clearly suggests that the post office was open between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm. Djuka notes that he has found postmarks with the gfollowing hours: 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, and 19. Among other differences between the red and black cancels is that in the black postmark, if the hour of use is an 8 or 9, there is always a small horizontal line in front of the number. Such a line does not exist in the red postmarks.
There was so much demand for FDCs that the post office experienced a shortage of the new chess stamps. FDCs were therefore prepared with other stamps available, including some with the portrait of Tito, and others commemorating an aeronautical performance in Ruma, another set honoring the Beograd-Zagreb motorway, and a set honoring Marshall Tito. On some of these FDCs, in addition to these stamps, one or more of the new chess stamps are sometimes found. In the following example, some stamps are cancelled in red and some with black on the same FDC.
In addition to these two postmarks, Djuka posesses only one set of five maximum cards that bear an unusual red cancellation with text arranged in two lines: "SAHOVSKA OLIMPIJADA DUBROVNIK,20.VIII,1950" We have not seen this cancel on any other items. It may have been the cancellation of the organizing committee.
One type of FDC was issued by "Sahovski savez (Chess Association). These were printed on white paper with black text in English at the top of the envelope: "Chess Olympics in Dubrovnik" and under that "August 1950 Yugoslavia". On the left vertically are six chess pieces.
Here are two registered FDCs of this type with red and black postmarks.
The letters in the first line are always 3mm high, but Djuka discovered one FDC with letters that appeared to be 4mm high BECAUSE THE BLACK TEXT WAS PRINTED DOUBLE! Thus far, Djuka knows of only two such covers in existence!
Seven other types of FDCs were produced by the "Filatelisticki Klub Dubrovnic - Podruzica F.S.H broj 5"(Stamp Collectors Club of Dubrovnik - Branch number 5 of the Philatelic Association of Croatia). Branch number 24 also participated in the organization of the stamp exhibition. The FDCs were printed on green and green-yellowish paper with the additional text: "Izlozba Maraka" (Stamp Exhibition) and "Dubrovnik 2-31 VIII 1950"
Most of the first day cover envelopes were produced in two sizes:
| type a | type b | type c | type d | |
| type 1 | -- | red | red | black |
| type 2 | black | black .. red | red | -- |
| type 3 | -- | black .. red | -- | black |
| type 4 | -- | -- | black .. red | -- |
| type 5 | -- | -- | red | black |
| type 6 | -- | black .. red | -- | -- |
| type 7 | -- | black | -- | -- |
In his most recent article, Djuka announced that he has discovered a new FDC type! On this "type e" cover, the green text is 9.3 cm long and the red text is shorter, measuring 9 cm. The most striking difference, however, is that the word "broj" (meaning "number") is abbreviated "br" On all other types, a short line like "-" is printed after the word "DUBROVNIK." On this type "e" cover, there is instead a comma. Djuka has thus far found only one type "e" cover.
In all (save one) of the FDCs that Djuka has studied, all of the five stamps issued to commemorate the 9th Chess Olympics were affixed in a single line, one next to the other, ordered according to their face value. The only exception is the following cover in which the 20.- dinar stamp was placed to the left with the others forming a block on the right side of the cover.
Five postcards with drawings exactly the same as the images on the stamps were also printed but without the text on the front of the stamps. On the reverse side of these "maximum cards" is the place for the address and in the upper left hand corner the text "Chess Olympics Dubrovnik - August 1950 Yugoslavia" in very small blue letters. A spelling mistake exists on ALL of the cards. All cards contain the word "POSTKARD" rather than the correct "POSTCARD." These cards exist plain (without stamps and cancellations) and also with the red and black cancels. The cancellations on these cards are often very poor and are often incomplete. The cards are quite rare and difficult to acquire. Examples are contained in the sections on the individual stamps (click on each stamp above).
On a very small number of maximum cards, the wrong stamp was affixed by error. So, for example, a 5.-dinar stamp was affixed and postmarked on a maximum card with the image of the design of the 2.-dinar stamp. Djuka possesses or has seen only three such cards.
Not all of the cards produced for use as maximum cards were used for that purpose. Some remain unused (and are quite rare), and some were affixed with other stamps and non-chess postmarks at later dates up to a year after the conclusion of the Olympiad.
"Ministry Albums" were also produced. These measured 15x11 cms and contained four pages. They show the coat of arms on the front page and the name of the country in French. The second and third page are blank.
The fourth page contains the text "EMISSION COMMEMORATIVE A L'OCCASION DE L'OLYMPIADE DES ECHECS, DUBROVNIK 1950" and in the lower part of the page "AVEC LES COMPLIMENTS DU MINSTERE DES POSTES".
The 5 value set is glued inside the Ministry Album on page 5. The rest of the Album is plain. The Album is made of two types of whitish-yellow paper and the pages are connected with a silk cord.
Albums exist with both unused and used stamps. Djuka has seen only the red cancel used in a Ministry Album.
Finally, official picture postcards of the Dubrovnik Olympiad also exist but are now quite rare. The following postcard was printed in dark-green. The text, on the back in the upper left hand corner is simply "Dubrovnik" but vertically between the two lines that divide the card in half is the text "Sahovska olimpiljada 1950 Dubrovnik."
Here are several regular postcards postmarked during the event that we have found:
Finally, we would be very grateful if collectors aware of any relevant items not described within the above text would help to increase our knowledge by sending an e-mail to drdjuka@bitsyu.net